- United States Code
- TITLE 33 - NAVIGATION AND NAVIGABLE WATERS
- CHAPTER 26 - WATER POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL
- SUBCHAPTER II - GRANTS FOR CONSTRUCTION OF TREATMENT WORKS
Sec. 1288. Areawide waste treatment management
- (a)
Identification and designation of areas having substantial
water quality control problems
For the purpose of encouraging and facilitating the development
and implementation of areawide waste treatment management plans -
- (1)
The Administrator, within ninety days after October 18,
1972, and after consultation with appropriate Federal, State, and
local authorities, shall by regulation publish guidelines for the
identification of those areas which, as a result of
urban-industrial concentrations or other factors, have
substantial water quality control problems.
- (2)
The Governor of each State, within sixty days after
publication of the guidelines issued pursuant to paragraph (1) of
this subsection, shall identify each area within the State which,
as a result of urban-industrial concentrations or other factors,
has substantial water quality control problems. Not later than
one hundred and twenty days following such identification and
after consultation with appropriate elected and other officials
of local governments having jurisdiction in such areas, the
Governor shall designate (A) the boundaries of each such area,
and (B) a single representative organization, including elected
officials from local governments or their designees, capable of
developing effective areawide waste treatment management plans
for such area. The Governor may in the same manner at any later
time identify any additional area (or modify an existing area)
for which he determines areawide waste treatment management to be
appropriate, designate the boundaries of such area, and designate
an organization capable of developing effective areawide waste
treatment management plans for such area.
- (3)
With respect to any area which, pursuant to the guidelines
published under paragraph (1) of this subsection, is located in
two or more States, the Governors of the respective States shall
consult and cooperate in carrying out the provisions of paragraph
(2), with a view toward designating the boundaries of the
interstate area having common water quality control problems and
for which areawide waste treatment management plans would be most
effective, and toward designating, within one hundred and eighty
days after publication of guidelines issued pursuant to paragraph
(1) of this subsection, of a single representative organization
capable of developing effective areawide waste treatment
management plans for such area.
- (4)
If a Governor does not act, either by designating or
determining not to make a designation under paragraph (2) of this
subsection, within the time required by such paragraph, or if, in
the case of an interstate area, the Governors of the States
involved do not designate a planning organization within the time
required by paragraph (3) of this subsection, the chief elected
officials of local governments within an area may by agreement
designate (A) the boundaries for such an area, and (B) a single
representative organization including elected officials from such
local governments, or their designees, capable of developing an
areawide waste treatment management plan for such area.
- (5)
Existing regional agencies may be designated under
paragraphs (2), (3), and (4) of this subsection.
- (6)
The State shall act as a planning agency for all portions
of such State which are not designated under paragraphs (2), (3),
or (4) of this subsection.
- (7)
Designations under this subsection shall be subject to the
approval of the Administrator.
- (1)
- (A)
Not later than one year after the date of designation of
any organization under subsection (a) of this section such
organization shall have in operation a continuing areawide waste
treatment management planning process consistent with section 1281
of this title. Plans prepared in accordance with this process
shall contain alternatives for waste treatment management, and be
applicable to all wastes generated within the area involved. The
initial plan prepared in accordance with such process shall be
certified by the Governor and submitted to the Administrator not
later than two years after the planning process is in operation.
- (B)
For any agency designated after 1975 under subsection (a) of
this section and for all portions of a State for which the State is
required to act as the planning agency in accordance with
subsection (a)(6) of this section, the initial plan prepared in
accordance with such process shall be certified by the Governor and
submitted to the Administrator not later than three years after the
receipt of the initial grant award authorized under subsection (f)
of this section.
- (2)
Any plan prepared under such process shall include, but not
be limited to -
- (A)
the identification of treatment works necessary to meet the
anticipated municipal and industrial waste treatment needs of the
area over a twenty-year period, annually updated (including an
analysis of alternative waste treatment systems), including any
requirements for the acquisition of land for treatment purposes;
the necessary waste water collection and urban storm water runoff
systems; and a program to provide the necessary financial
arrangements for the development of such treatment works, and an
identification of open space and recreation opportunities that
can be expected to result from improved water quality, including
consideration of potential use of lands associated with treatment
works and increased access to water-based recreation;
- (B)
the establishment of construction priorities for such
treatment works and time schedules for the initiation and
completion of all treatment works;
- (C)
the establishment of a regulatory program to -
- (i)
implement the waste treatment management requirements of
section 1281(c) of this title,
- (ii)
regulate the location, modification, and construction of
any facilities within such area which may result in any
discharge in such area, and
- (iii)
assure that any industrial or commercial wastes
discharged into any treatment works in such area meet
applicable pretreatment requirements;
- (D)
the identification of those agencies necessary to
construct, operate, and maintain all facilities required by the
plan and otherwise to carry out the plan;
- (E)
the identification of the measures necessary to carry out
the plan (including financing), the period of time necessary to
carry out the plan, the costs of carrying out the plan within
such time, and the economic, social, and environmental impact of
carrying out the plan within such time;
- (F)
a process to (i) identify, if appropriate, agriculturally
and silviculturally related nonpoint sources of pollution,
including return flows from irrigated agriculture, and their
cumulative effects, runoff from manure disposal areas, and from
land used for livestock and crop production, and (ii) set forth
procedures and methods (including land use requirements) to
control to the extent feasible such sources;
- (G)
a process to (i) identify, if appropriate, mine-related
sources of pollution including new, current, and abandoned
surface and underground mine runoff, and (ii) set forth
procedures and methods (including land use requirements) to
control to the extent feasible such sources;
- (H)
a process to (i) identify construction activity related
sources of pollution, and (ii) set forth procedures and methods
(including land use requirements) to control to the extent
feasible such sources;
- (I)
a process to (i) identify, if appropriate, salt water
intrusion into rivers, lakes, and estuaries resulting from
reduction of fresh water flow from any cause, including
irrigation, obstruction, ground water extraction, and diversion,
and (ii) set forth procedures and methods to control such
intrusion to the extent feasible where such procedures and
methods are otherwise a part of the waste treatment management
plan;
- (J)
a process to control the disposition of all residual waste
generated in such area which could affect water quality; and
- (K)
a process to control the disposal of pollutants on land or
in subsurface excavations within such area to protect ground and
surface water quality.
- (3)
Areawide waste treatment management plans shall be certified
annually by the Governor or his designee (or Governors or their
designees, where more than one State is involved) as being
consistent with applicable basin plans and such areawide waste
treatment management plans shall be submitted to the Administrator
for his approval.
- (4)
- (A)
Whenever the Governor of any State determines (and
notifies the Administrator) that consistency with a statewide
regulatory program under section 1313 of this title so requires,
the requirements of clauses (F) through (K) of paragraph (2) of
this subsection shall be developed and submitted by the Governor to
the Administrator for approval for application to a class or
category of activity throughout such State.
- (B)
Any program submitted under subparagraph (A) of this
paragraph which, in whole or in part, is to control the discharge
or other placement of dredged or fill material into the navigable
waters shall include the following:
- (i)
A consultation process which includes the State agency with
primary jurisdiction over fish and wildlife resources.
- (ii)
A process to identify and manage the discharge or other
placement of dredged or fill material which adversely affects
navigable waters, which shall complement and be coordinated with
a State program under section 1344 of this title conducted
pursuant to this chapter.
- (iii)
A process to assure that any activity conducted pursuant
to a best management practice will comply with the guidelines
established under section 1344(b)(1) of this title, and sections
1317 and 1343 of this title.
- (iv)
A process to assure that any activity conducted pursuant
to a best management practice can be terminated or modified for
cause including, but not limited to, the following:
- (I)
violation of any condition of the best management
practice;
- (II)
change in any activity that requires either a temporary
or permanent reduction or elimination of the discharge pursuant
to the best management practice.
- (v)
A process to assure continued coordination with Federal and
Federal-State water-related planning and reviewing processes,
including the National Wetlands Inventory.
- (C)
If the Governor of a State obtains approval from the
Administrator of a statewide regulatory program which meets the
requirements of subparagraph (B) of this paragraph and if such
State is administering a permit program under section 1344 of this
title, no person shall be required to obtain an individual permit
pursuant to such section, or to comply with a general permit issued
pursuant to such section, with respect to any appropriate activity
within such State for which a best management practice has been
approved by the Administrator under the program approved by the
Administrator pursuant to this paragraph.
- (D)
- (i)
Whenever the Administrator determines after public hearing
that a State is not administering a program approved under this
section in accordance with the requirements of this section, the
Administrator shall so notify the State, and if appropriate
corrective action is not taken within a reasonable time, not to
exceed ninety days, the Administrator shall withdraw approval of
such program. The Administrator shall not withdraw approval of any
such program unless he shall first have notified the State, and
made public, in writing, the reasons for such withdrawal.
- (ii)
In the case of a State with a program submitted and approved
under this paragraph, the Administrator shall withdraw approval of
such program under this subparagraph only for a substantial failure
of the State to administer its program in accordance with the
requirements of this paragraph.
- (c)
Regional operating agencies
- (1)
The Governor of each State, in consultation with the planning
agency designated under subsection (a) of this section, at the time
a plan is submitted to the Administrator, shall designate one or
more waste treatment management agencies (which may be an existing
or newly created local, regional, or State agency or political
subdivision) for each area designated under subsection (a) of this
section and submit such designations to the Administrator.
- (2)
The Administrator shall accept any such designation, unless,
within 120 days of such designation, he finds that the designated
management agency (or agencies) does not have adequate authority -
- (A)
to carry out appropriate portions of an areawide waste
treatment management plan developed under subsection (b) of this
section;
- (B)
to manage effectively waste treatment works and related
facilities serving such area in conformance with any plan
required by subsection (b) of this section;
- (C)
directly or by contract, to design and construct new works,
and to operate and maintain new and existing works as required by
any plan developed pursuant to subsection (b) of this section;
- (D)
to accept and utilize grants, or other funds from any
source, for waste treatment management purposes;
- (E)
to raise revenues, including the assessment of waste
treatment charges;
- (F)
to incur short- and long-term indebtedness;
- (G)
to assure in implementation of an areawide waste treatment
management plan that each participating community pays its
proportionate share of treatment costs;
- (H)
to refuse to receive any wastes from any municipality or
subdivision thereof, which does not comply with any provisions of
an approved plan under this section applicable to such area; and
- (I)
to accept for treatment industrial wastes.
- (d)
Conformity of works with area plan
After a waste treatment management agency having the authority
required by subsection (c) of this section has been designated
under such subsection for an area and a plan for such area has been
approved under subsection (b) of this section, the Administrator
shall not make any grant for construction of a publicly owned
treatment works under section 1281(g)(1) of this title within such
area except to such designated agency and for works in conformity
with such plan.
- (e)
Permits not to conflict with approved plans
No permit under section 1342 of this title shall be issued for
any point source which is in conflict with a plan approved pursuant
to subsection (b) of this section.
- (f)
Grants
- (1)
The Administrator shall make grants to any agency designated
under subsection (a) of this section for payment of the reasonable
costs of developing and operating a continuing areawide waste
treatment management planning process under subsection (b) of this
section.
- (2)
For the two-year period beginning on the date the first grant
is made under paragraph (1) of this subsection to an agency, if
such first grant is made before October 1, 1977, the amount of each
such grant to such agency shall be 100 per centum of the costs of
developing and operating a continuing areawide waste treatment
management planning process under subsection (b) of this section,
and thereafter the amount granted to such agency shall not exceed
75 per centum of such costs in each succeeding one-year period. In
the case of any other grant made to an agency under such paragraph
(1) of this subsection, the amount of such grant shall not exceed
75 per centum of the costs of developing and operating a continuing
areawide waste treatment management planning process in any year.
- (3)
Each applicant for a grant under this subsection shall submit
to the Administrator for his approval each proposal for which a
grant is applied for under this subsection. The Administrator
shall act upon such proposal as soon as practicable after it has
been submitted, and his approval of that proposal shall be deemed a
contractual obligation of the United States for the payment of its
contribution to such proposal, subject to such amounts as are
provided in appropriation Acts. There is authorized to be
appropriated to carry out this subsection not to exceed $50,000,000
for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1973, not to exceed
$100,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1974, not to
exceed $150,000,000 per fiscal year for the fiscal years ending
June 30, 1975, September 30, 1977, September 30, 1978, September
30, 1979, and September 30, 1980, not to exceed $100,000,000 per
fiscal year for the fiscal years ending September 30, 1981, and
September 30, 1982, and such sums as may be necessary for fiscal
years 1983 through 1990.
- (g)
Technical assistance by Administrator
The Administrator is authorized, upon request of the Governor or
the designated planning agency, and without reimbursement, to
consult with, and provide technical assistance to, any agency
designated under subsection (a) of this section in the development
of areawide waste treatment management plans under subsection (b)
of this section.
- (h)
Technical assistance by Secretary of the Army
- (1)
The Secretary of the Army, acting through the Chief of
Engineers, in cooperation with the Administrator is authorized and
directed, upon request of the Governor or the designated planning
organization, to consult with, and provide technical assistance to,
any agency designed [1] under subsection (a) of this
section in developing and operating a continuing areawide waste
treatment management planning process under subsection (b) of this
section.
- (2)
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of
the Army, to carry out this subsection, not to exceed $50,000,000
per fiscal year for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1973, and June
30, 1974.
- (i)
State best management practices program
- (1)
The Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of
the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, shall, upon request of
the Governor of a State, and without reimbursement, provide
technical assistance to such State in developing a statewide
program for submission to the Administrator under subsection
(b)(4)(B) of this section and in implementing such program after
its approval.
- (2)
There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary of
the Interior $6,000,000 to complete the National Wetlands Inventory
of the United States, by December 31, 1981, and to provide
information from such Inventory to States as it becomes available
to assist such States in the development and operation of programs
under this chapter.
- (j)
Agricultural cost sharing
- (1)
The Secretary of Agriculture, with the concurrence of the
Administrator, and acting through the Soil Conservation Service and
such other agencies of the Department of Agriculture as the
Secretary may designate, is authorized and directed to establish
and administer a program to enter into contracts, subject to such
amounts as are provided in advance by appropriation acts, of not
less than five years nor more than ten years with owners and
operators having control of rural land for the purpose of
installing and maintaining measures incorporating best management
practices to control nonpoint source pollution for improved water
quality in those States or areas for which the Administrator has
approved a plan under subsection (b) of this section where the
practices to which the contracts apply are certified by the
management agency designated under subsection (c)(1) of this
section to be consistent with such plans and will result in
improved water quality. Such contracts may be entered into during
the period ending not later than September 31, 1988. Under such
contracts the land owner or operator shall agree -
- (i)
to effectuate a plan approved by a soil conservation
district, where one exists, under this section for his farm,
ranch, or other land substantially in accordance with the
schedule outlined therein unless any requirement thereof is
waived or modified by the Secretary;
- (ii)
to forfeit all rights to further payments or grants under
the contract and refund to the United States all payments and
grants received thereunder, with interest, upon his violation of
the contract at any stage during the time he has control of the
land if the Secretary, after considering the recommendations of
the soil conservation district, where one exists, and the
Administrator, determines that such violation is of such a nature
as to warrant termination of the contract, or to make refunds or
accept such payment adjustments as the Secretary may deem
appropriate if he determines that the violation by the owner or
operator does not warrant termination of the contract;
- (iii)
upon transfer of his right and interest in the farm,
ranch, or other land during the contract period to forfeit all
rights to further payments or grants under the contract and
refund to the United States all payments or grants received
thereunder, with interest, unless the transferee of any such land
agrees with the Secretary to assume all obligations of the
contract;
- (iv)
not to adopt any practice specified by the Secretary on
the advice of the Administrator in the contract as a practice
which would tend to defeat the purposes of the contract;
- (v)
to such additional provisions as the Secretary determines
are desirable and includes in the contract to effectuate the
purposes of the program or to facilitate the practical
administration of the program.
- (2)
In return for such agreement by the landowner or operator the
Secretary shall agree to provide technical assistance and share the
cost of carrying out those conservation practices and measures set
forth in the contract for which he determines that cost sharing is
appropriate and in the public interest and which are approved for
cost sharing by the agency designated to implement the plan
developed under subsection (b) of this section. The portion of
such cost (including labor) to be shared shall be that part which
the Secretary determines is necessary and appropriate to effectuate
the installation of the water quality management practices and
measures under the contract, but not to exceed 50 per centum of the
total cost of the measures set forth in the contract; except the
Secretary may increase the matching cost share where he determines
that (1) the main benefits to be derived from the measures are
related to improving offsite water quality, and (2) the matching
share requirement would place a burden on the landowner which would
probably prevent him from participating in the program.
- (3)
The Secretary may terminate any contract with a landowner or
operator by mutual agreement with the owner or operator if the
Secretary determines that such termination would be in the public
interest, and may agree to such modification of contracts
previously entered into as he may determine to be desirable to
carry out the purposes of the program or facilitate the practical
administration thereof or to accomplish equitable treatment with
respect to other conservation, land use, or water quality programs.
- (4)
In providing assistance under this subsection the Secretary
will give priority to those areas and sources that have the most
significant effect upon water quality. Additional investigations
or plans may be made, where necessary, to supplement approved water
quality management plans, in order to determine priorities.
- (5)
The Secretary shall, where practicable, enter into agreements
with soil conservation districts, State soil and water conservation
agencies, or State water quality agencies to administer all or part
of the program established in this subsection under regulations
developed by the Secretary. Such agreements shall provide for the
submission of such reports as the Secretary deems necessary, and
for payment by the United States of such portion of the costs
incurred in the administration of the program as the Secretary may
deem appropriate.
- (6)
The contracts under this subsection shall be entered into
only in areas where the management agency designated under
subsection (c)(1) of this section assures an adequate level of
participation by owners and operators having control of rural land
in such areas. Within such areas the local soil conservation
district, where one exists, together with the Secretary of
Agriculture, will determine the priority of assistance among
individual land owners and operators to assure that the most
critical water quality problems are addressed.
- (7)
The Secretary, in consultation with the Administrator and
subject to section 1314(k) of this title, shall, not later than
September 30, 1978, promulgate regulations for carrying out this
subsection and for support and cooperation with other Federal and
non-Federal agencies for implementation of this subsection.
- (8)
This program shall not be used to authorize or finance
projects that would otherwise be eligible for assistance under the
terms of Public Law 83-566 (16 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.).
- (9)
There are hereby authorized to be appropriated to the
Secretary of Agriculture $200,000,000 for fiscal year 1979,
$400,000,000 for fiscal year 1980, $100,000,000 for fiscal year
1981, $100,000,000 for fiscal year 1982, and such sums as may be
necessary for fiscal years 1983 through 1990, to carry out this
subsection. The program authorized under this subsection shall be
in addition to, and not in substitution of, other programs in such
area authorized by this or any other public law.
Footnotes
[1] So in original. Probably should be ''designated''.
[Notes]